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Fast, Quick, Cheap, Good looking LED room lighting (for anyone)
by mellink on June 20, 2009

Table of Contents

License: Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Intro: Fast, Quick, Cheap, Good looking LED room lighting (for anyone) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

step 1: Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

step 2: Cable up the room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

step 3: make the LEDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

step 4: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

step 5: POWER ON! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

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Advertisements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fast-Quick-Cheap-Good-looking-LED-room-lighting/
License: Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike (by-nc-sa)

Intro: Fast, Quick, Cheap, Good looking LED room lighting (for anyone)
Welcome all :-) This is my first instructable so comments are welcome :-)

What i hope to show you is how to make quick LED lighting that is on a TINY buget.

What you need :

Cable
LEDs
Resistors (510Ohms for 12V)
Stapels
Soldering iron
Cutters and other basics
Hammer and a nail!

(NOTES FOR n00bs)

LEDs need about 30 milli amps (0.03 Amps) or they burn out
To work out your resiance use:

V=IR

Voltage (V) = 12
Amperage (I) = 0.03 (30*10-3)
Resitance (R) = ?

SO :

V/I=R

12/0.03=400Ohms
or more...
i used 510 so my LEDs arent running at the brightest they could be

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fast-Quick-Cheap-Good-looking-LED-room-lighting/
step 1: Costs
Costs:

Cable : 8.51GBP high grade white cable per 50m ($13.99)

LEDs: 6.18GBP (Cheaper by the 1000) (the LEDs i used are 13,000 and 6,000 mcd with a angel of 25 degrees)

Resistors x100: for 0.99GBP

Staples: Well cheap...

Which works out at:

0.89 per metre!

Spacing of 1 LED per 10cm is enough (get the spacing right or it looks strange)

which isnt bad for really nice lightening that on average the leds will last 11+ Years!

I used a power adapter i had lying about but anything that is 12V and lying about will do fine :-)
Just as a general rule you need 30mA per LED. (this isnt strictly true, but it will keep you within tolerences)

so if you had 20 leds you need (30*10-3)*20=600mA or 0.6 A

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fast-Quick-Cheap-Good-looking-LED-room-lighting/
step 2: Cable up the room
Quick and easy you need to run 2 cables and make sure you dont cross them over at any point or itll get messy

Seen in the picture is what your cableing should look like all the way around the room (or where ever you want the LEDs)

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fast-Quick-Cheap-Good-looking-LED-room-lighting/
step 3: make the LEDs
Now what i love about this system is that you can switch, move and change colours so easily!

How to ready the LEDs...

Bend one corner of the resitor and the + (positive) leg of the LED and hook them together.
Then put on the solder.
Then cut the extra off.

And who said soldering was hard!

Then bend the legs like shown in the picture so that both the legs point downward and make them the same length. about 4mm not long

ok now do that as many times as you want... Its easy...

step 4:
Put it all together!

Ok so LEDs only work one way around so make sure all the LEDs + (positive) legs (the end with the resistor) goes in the same cable.

Take the nail and puncture the cable cover so that you can stick the legs of the LED into the cable

Now do the same every 10cm...

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fast-Quick-Cheap-Good-looking-LED-room-lighting/
step 5: POWER ON!
TURN IT ON!

Enjoy and thanks for reading.

Future upgrades:
Use of capacitors for a glowing as the power is turned on (gradual lighting on)
and a motion sensor so as i come in the door the lights come on.

Thanks to all for reading :-)

if you want any parts (shown in the instructable i can sell them to you)
also any donations (as i an a poor student) are very much appriated!

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http://www.instructables.com/id/Fast-Quick-Cheap-Good-looking-LED-room-lighting/
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Comments
50 comments Add Comment view all 211 comments

runwithscissors17 says: Oct 4, 2009. 2:09 PM REPLY

This project was by far my favourite. It work out so well.
What i did that was cool tho, instead of hooking the lights up to a wall outlet, i took a speaker (like a surround sound speaker) and hooked it up to one of
those black boxes that hook up to your tv. Then i put the lights into the back of the speakers as well, so it would draw power from there, and now, whenever
their is a beat, the lights will flash. The result = colorful flashing lights that beat to the music. Party on!

mellink says: Oct 26, 2009. 8:26 AM REPLY

love the idea so much i did it too. happens to be that my desk is just to the left of the picture so i just plugged it into the back of my amp.

wotot2 says: Nov 22, 2009. 11:41 AM REPLY

I've been trying to figure out what resistors im going to need to do that, are you saying that 510Ohm resistors will work for this no matter what?

mellink says: Nov 22, 2009. 2:14 PM REPLY

No. if you use a different voltage input ie anything other than 12V DC you will have to change the resistors to allow enough power to flow through
the LED to lite it up.
Read page one the maths is explained

natman says: Nov 12, 2009. 1:17 PM REPLY

would you be able to use the tri changing leds for a cool effect???

runwithscissors17 says: Jul 17, 2009. 5:22 PM REPLY

Just wondering, is this safe? I mean can this cause a fire or short in a line somewhere?

j03tv says: Oct 30, 2009. 11:26 AM REPLY

This is totally safe. I mean, depending on where you get a short it can either provide too much current to an LED and blow it out or damage the power
supply. Just make sure after everything is connected properly and use some hot glue or electrical tape to seal the wires from making shorts if they are
close together.

runwithscissors17 says: Jul 17, 2009. 7:51 PM REPLY

Also, when i got this working, i found that the resister became really really hot. Is this normal?

j03tv says: Oct 30, 2009. 11:32 AM REPLY

Bends and twists wont do anything to cause heat. For these simple projects, you shouldnt feel much heat through any of the
components. Maybe you are probably using a too low of resistor value with a high voltage.

runwithscissors17 says: Jul 17, 2009. 8:42 PM REPLY

Furthermore, would it be getting hot because their are a lot of bends and twists in the resister?

Thenwcp says: Aug 9, 2009. 9:39 PM REPLY

Yes resistors getting hot= normal. Resistors drop voltage, and that energy has to go somewhere therefore the energy is converted into heat.
Effectively everything has a resistance (unless your a cool science guy with supercooled metal haha) which is why we use heat sinks and fans to
cool our electronic equipment such as a computer.

Applecore807 says: Sep 26, 2009. 10:07 PM REPLY

umm the capaictor future upgrade, wouldnt the lights come on first then dim with a capacitor and would it be on every led or just the start of the power leads.
im still trying to get my head around capacitors ;l

Hubro says: Aug 4, 2009. 8:39 AM REPLY

Are you using a AC adapter or a DC adapter?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fast-Quick-Cheap-Good-looking-LED-room-lighting/
 amishra123 says: Sep 3, 2009. 8:39 AM REPLY
about the phone charger just thought i would slip this in! You can also make a usb charger! Just cut the bit you plug into the phone and u will have two
wires one red and one black just take the male usb part and solder the red and black wires together and there you have it a wall usb charger!! for your
ipod or whatever!!!

mikemmcmeans says: Aug 6, 2009. 2:25 PM REPLY

he's using DC. leds only work on DC. if they were ran on AC they would blink at 60Hz.

Hubro says: Aug 10, 2009. 2:06 AM REPLY

Thanks! But I have a 4.9V DC cell phone charger lying around. Can I use this?

mikemmcmeans says: Aug 10, 2009. 3:41 PM REPLY

probably. it depends on the power rating ov your adapter. (like he was saying in the cost section) each LED will use about 20mA so... if you have
a 500mA adapter, you can run 25 LEDS on it. 350mA -> 17LEDS get the picture? if you're under that rating too much(using only half the leds) the
voltage will increase. your resistors will only be caculated for 5V, and the voltage will be 6-7V on the otherside (if you're using too many leds) the
voltage will go down, and the leds will dim proportionately to the exceded rating. to fix both those problems get a 7805 voltage regulator and a 7-
12V adapter. it will always output 5V no matter load (long as its <1000mA) then work from there

R0y4L says: Aug 12, 2009. 10:10 AM REPLY

I had an idea of connecting the LEDs to a USB port (5V), but i have no idea about amperage. could any one help me out with this? any one
tried it?

mikemmcmeans says: Aug 12, 2009. 7:24 PM REPLY

yeah i do this kinda thing all the time. USB ports on desktops usually can source about 1250mA MAX but thats a critical level and most
comps will shut off power to the port. the safe range is about 500mA enough for 25leds @ 20mA but you could probably get about 30 or
40

R0y4L says: Aug 12, 2009. 2:09 PM REPLY

Never mind, done it myself :) look briliant :) If any one else tries to connect the LEDs to a USB port, just so you know. The limit is 10
LEDs. This is for USB2.0, for USB3.0 i think the amount of LEDs could go up to 17, cos it gets more amps. If you want to see my version
of it visit: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=96918&id=795060237

j03tv says: Oct 30, 2009. 11:20 AM REPLY

You can get more than 10 LED's on a USB port.
Standard USB for computers and external hubs work the same. They both provide 5v Output and 500mA total, and this is on each
port.
I have 3 light bars connected to a 4-port USB hub with each bar using 24 LED's running at 20mA each with 100Ohm resistors in
series with each LED = Total 480mA.
I just picked up 3x 12V DC 2A supplies with molex connectors for $10 each, which will allow me to run 300 LED's at 20mA per supply.

Thenwcp says: Aug 9, 2009. 9:18 PM REPLY

Which you can't really see anyway

giggidy2692 says: Aug 6, 2009. 1:46 PM REPLY

do you just plug one end of the wire into a wall outlet or what? that confuses me

Thenwcp says: Aug 9, 2009. 9:28 PM REPLY

You would end up with LED bits all over the place if you did that, they probably just used a power supply. you can get away with one of those cheap
Dynex computer power supplies all the voltages are labeled you just have to splice the "turn on" wire with a negative wire (the turn on wire is usually
green or gray, and negative aka Common as always is black) there are instructables on how to vary the voltages in your power supply, but doing a basic
set up use the manual to find out which voltages go with which wires because there's a 3V a 12V (red and the yellow usually) and there's a way to set up
24V but for this you really don't need the 24V set up haha. alternatively you could spend 30 or 40 dollars on a DC power supply at radioshack. If you
want to go super ghetto fab just cut the ends off of a cell phone charger (which I'm sure by now most people have extra lying around from old phones)
you can get a good 3-6 V depending on the charger.

DecemberUndergrownd says: Aug 16, 2009. 12:53 AM REPLY

wait could you describe the cell phone charger thing a bit more?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fast-Quick-Cheap-Good-looking-LED-room-lighting/
 Thenwcp says: Aug 16, 2009. 6:54 AM REPLY
A cell phone charger is just a step down AC to DC converter, basically your just cutting off the phone plug and using the output of the phone
charger

R0y4L says: Jul 21, 2009. 11:25 AM REPLY

hello, i am whats it called a n00b at this. i have found some 220ohm resistors. i am not really good at this, but i wqa woundering, could i put two resistors for
each LED, would tht make it work? or am i just making something very stupid.

Thenwcp says: Aug 9, 2009. 9:35 PM REPLY

Just an add on to what Mellink was saying...
Resistance equations

Series...... R1+R2+R3= R(total)

Parallel.... 1/(1/R1+1/R2+1/R3)= R(total)

also if you have just two parallel resistors you can be fancy and use this equation R1*R2/(R1+R2)

also with parallel if you have two of the same resistances you can just cut the resistance of one resistor in half and that will be you total

mellink says: Jul 21, 2009. 2:54 PM REPLY

your bang on the money with 2 resistors in series (ie link together) just add up there values...(but you can buy resistors at 1p per resistor :-) so hardly
seems worth the extra messing about...ebay it someone like pheniox lighting and then go to their website buy more than £5 get free shipping :-) ) if you
put them in parrel...ie over each other you would half there values because the current has 2 routes to travel down... THE RESISTORS AS I SAID VARY
DEPENDING ON YOUR LEDS but i used 510 ohms at 12V to produce 23mA (could run up to 35mA) but it depends on your leds most need 30 mA or
less... so at 12V your safe to use 512Ohm

rseni says: Jul 22, 2009. 6:35 AM REPLY

I used a 5V travel adapter and no resistor. It's working and no heating of LEDs yet. Am I doing wrong?

R0y4L says: Jul 21, 2009. 3:07 PM REPLY

wow...i actually worked it out myself hahaha. feel so smart lol... :) thanks for that. It made my day :D

errow says: Aug 6, 2009. 6:07 PM REPLY

if i used a 6v power supply would i need resitors ?

Thenwcp says: Aug 9, 2009. 9:18 PM REPLY

yes, because resistors do not limit voltage or current very well and will burn out quickly even at voltages as low as 3V

errow says: Aug 6, 2009. 5:42 PM REPLY

where can i buy the cable?!?!?!?!?!

skrubol says: Jun 25, 2009. 7:00 AM REPLY

Running like this is quite inefficient, also your resistance calculation is a bit off. White and blue LED's run at about 3v, so you are burning 9v in the resistors
and 3v in the LED. About 25% efficient. Also, for your resistance calculation, for 'v' you should use 'Vsupply-Vf'=12-3=9v. So your LED's are really only using
18mA.
If you want to double or triple your efficiency, you can run 2 or 3 LED's in series with one, smaller valued resistor. 2 LED's with a 200 ohm resistor would get
you 30mA. 3 LED's with a 100 ohm resistor will be a bit less stable (LED's will get brighter as they warm up, and small variations in your power supply will
show.)

aarons123 says: Aug 2, 2009. 1:28 AM REPLY

ok, you could do this, but how would you get the same cool effect XD around 10 cm apart

spaz_behindyou says: Jul 4, 2009. 2:31 AM REPLY

and also, what ohm were the resistors?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fast-Quick-Cheap-Good-looking-LED-room-lighting/
 drbill says: Jul 4, 2009. 11:50 PM REPLY
i would think that using a 12v. power supply you could use a 47 ohm. i do

spaz_behindyou says: Jul 7, 2009. 7:29 AM REPLY

Can i use a higher ohm, like 100, or would that disrupt the circuit?

pyro-jim says: Jul 25, 2009. 8:09 AM REPLY

too low actually. He says in the intro that he used 510 ohms because it needs to be at least 400 ohms

wolfmane says: Jul 14, 2009. 10:19 AM REPLY

Just for future instructables you do, I'd recommend giving a basic circuit diagram/schematic from those readers who are visual or beginning electronics
DIY'ers, it helps out a lot. I'm an employed electronics technician and working on my EE degree but even I have to pause and think about it when trying to
decipher a circuit from only written descriptions.

rseni says: Jul 14, 2009. 8:58 AM REPLY

If using enough LEDs, can this thing replace regular house lights / bulbs?

rseni says: Jul 14, 2009. 8:40 AM REPLY

I was able to punch a few LEDs into a speaker cable and it works. But I used a direct 5V DC from a travel adapter. If I use any resistor, it gets too hot.
Another thing. I want to use the already installed speaker wire all round the house by punching the LEDs in to it every 10cm or so. Say if it is 100 to 200
LEDs, what is the best voltage I need and what current capacity of the transformer? If I wish to use good batteries along with this, what voltge is best and
what amp.hour? All help appercited. RS

rseni says: Jul 9, 2009. 3:53 AM REPLY

You drill holes in the cable and put each LED inside. Drilling the holes also spoils the internal wires of the extension cable/cord. Then how do you connect
the LEDs internally?
Even if the wires are not spoilt somehow, how do you connect the LEDS internally? I can't understand this.

Can someone re-explain the making step by step since I could not understand even after reading repeatedly.

How do you connect the LEDs internally? Stapling the inside wires? Does that really work?

Someone mentioned the use of safety pins to solder to the LEDs and push them into the wires. That's understandable and easier. But why do you need two
cables? Is it that only the LED legs go in the cables?

Are the LEDs in series? With a single resistor? Would 20 LEDs work in series from a 12V DC supply and a resistor? The LEDs, if stapled to the wires, will be
in parallel right?

If the resistor is really needed, then can't a high wattage wirewound be used? Just one would be enough for the whole bunch of LEDs.

I have two 6.3V sealed batteries which are not in use. Can I use these instead and add an existing charger for them? This way, I have the LED light even
when the lights go off at evening / night.

I would like to add a switch after say every 5 LEDs which can be turned on and off to let the other LEDs light up or not as needed.

Regards,
RS

pyro-jim says: Jul 11, 2009. 5:41 AM REPLY

The LED's are wired in parrallel so all the positives are stuck in one wire so that the leg is touching the copper wire inside the wires you run along the
wall. The negatives are the same but in the other wire. The negative wire is attached to the positive on the power source and the positive is attached to
the negative of the power source. Hope this helps

rseni says: Jul 11, 2009. 9:39 AM REPLY

So you have two separate cables instead of single extension cord with double wires inside? Thanks for clarifying, RS

junits15 says: Jul 9, 2009. 3:02 PM REPLY

I think you punch the holes with a nail

spenymoor says: Jun 25, 2009. 1:55 PM REPLY

could you put the resistor at the begining of the circut and run it all through one wire?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fast-Quick-Cheap-Good-looking-LED-room-lighting/
 edwardchen says: Jun 25, 2009. 2:19 PM REPLY
By only using one current limiting resistor, you run the risk of allowing different currents through each LED, based on the forward voltage. This *might*
work alright if you are only using one batch of LEDs, but as you add different color LEDs in parallel, all the current will go through the LED with the lowest
forward voltage, probably blowing that LED.

Even if all the forward voltages were identical, as you add more LEDs, the overall current draw will be the same, reducing the current (and brightness) for
each individual LED.

hjfast says: Jul 10, 2009. 9:12 AM REPLY

I think he means putting all the LEDs in series rather than having all of them in parallel as they are now. The calculation the author did for the total
current you need (# LEDS * Current/LED) implies that they are all in parallel.

If you were to put all the LEDs in series you would only need 30mA (or less) current. However, you would need a much higher voltage supply (Ohms
Law).

view all 211 comments

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